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Continued from page 2

Carmine: The Virgin Group consists of 400 companies and you’re always looking for new investments, partnerships, or opportunities. Can you recall seeing a pitch or presentation that blew you away?

Richard: A few years ago, I was enjoying a nice bath at home, in warm water and soft lighting…you can imagine how excited I got as Al Gore walked me through his Inconvenient Truth slide show! In all seriousness, he presented the irreversible effects of doing business as usual on our fragile planet. In that relaxed setting, we had a constructive discussion about how a businessman in ‘dirty fuels’ businesses [airlines, trains] can open up clean-tech markets and start new ways of doing better business. It led me to pledge 100 percent of our transportation profits to clean energy and to encourage more businesses to equally prioritize people, planet, and profits.

[This was a first for me. I’ve never heard of anyone delivering a presentation to someone soaking in a bath. I should have known that Branson would have a unique story! I’m glad Branson brought up Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. The award-winning documentary was inspired by Gore’s slideshow on the topic. Gore created the presentation on Apple Keynote software with help from the Duarte presentation design firm. If Gore’s presentation had been delivered in a traditional presentation style with wordy slides and bullet points, I don’t believe it would have inspired a movie and a worldwide movement to reduce greenhouse gases. Clearly the presentation also convinced Branson to dedicate profits from the Virgin Group’s transportation interests—Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Trains—to initiatives that develop renewable technologies. You can learn more about Virgin’s climate change initiatives here.]

Carmine: In your book you say a business pitch should be confident, concise, and clear. Why can't business people speak simply, free of jargon and confusing concepts?

Richard:I can’t speak for other people but dyslexia shaped my—and Virgin’s— communication style. From the beginning, Virgin used clear, ordinary language. If I could quickly understand a campaign concept, it was good to go. If something can’t be explained off the back of an envelope, it’s rubbish.

[Too many business professionals underestimate the power of simplicity to pitch their ideas or to present their products. An early Google investor once told me that if an entrepreneur cannot explain his product or idea in 10 words or less, he’s not interested. Clearly, Branson values simplicity as well. In his book, Branson says he was once pitched a business plan that fit on a beer mat. It was an idea for a low-cost domestic airline in Australia to take on Qantas and Ansett. That “beer mat” pitch became Virgin Blue, now Virgin Australia.]

Carmine: Finally, the topic of PowerPoint. Do you use it?

Richard: I believe in conversation and eye contact.

[Here Branson nails the problem with PowerPoint. As I've expressed in previous columns, I don’t believe that PowerPoint itself is the problem with business presentations. It’s the fact that wordy, text-heavy slides have replaced eye contact and conversation. You can still use PowerPoint to have a conversation if you tell stories, use pictures instead of words, and internalize the presentation through extensive practice so that you’re making eye contact with your audience instead of your slides.]

As you can tell even in this conversation, Branson believes that if you’re not having fun, don’t do it. “There is no point in being in business if it is not fun,” Branson says. It’s clear that Branson is still having fun and I believe it’s a key component to his charisma. Branson captures our imagination because he’s a business leader who has a bold vision, executes ideas magnificently, inspires his team, and has fun doing it every step of the way.